‘Charles Leclerc, an extremely talented driver who will help Ferrari in the long run’ – Gerhard Berger. Berger states that it will be some time before Ferrari is successful again.

With a sixth place in the constructors’ championship, 2020 was the worst result for Ferrari in 40 years. Charles Leclerc and even more Sebastian Vettel were hardly competitive this season.

Difficult to be successful
Gerhard Berger drove a total of six seasons for Ferrari between 1987 and 1989 and between 1993 and 1995. During that time he won five Grands Prix and came third in the championship in 1988 and 1994. “It is always very difficult to have the final success with the Italians. I myself tried for six years and was always upfront, but we didn’t win the world championship,” the Austrian says on Motorsport-Total.com.

According to Gerhard Berger, there have only been two drivers who really managed to bring Ferrari to the top. “In the time that I’ve been watching, two people have really put the Ferrari team on the road to success: that was Niki Lauda, who managed to really get them on track, and Michael Schumacher.”

The last driver to give Ferrari the World Championship was Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. “There was also a bit of coincidence”, Berger thinks. “Driving the Ferrari team, with the Italian mentality, as great as it is, is a difficult thing, is not everyone’s cup of tea.”

Developments this year and next year are limited due to the pandemic, and therefore amended regulations. Also, the budget cap will be introduced as of 2021 and 2022 is still an unfamiliar area for all teams, as the entire regulations will be overhauled. Thus, former F1 driver Gerhard Berger states that it will be some time before Ferrari is successful again.

Two to three years
With Charles Leclerc, Ferrari has a young and extremely talented driver under their care, which may well help them in the long run. Berger: “I have to say that Leclerc is an exceptionally good driver. You are going to hear a lot from him. But I can’t imagine that Ferrari will be able to find a way out of the situation they are in overnight. I do believe that they will continue to improve themselves over the next two to three years and then get back on the road to success. But at the moment they are still relatively far behind the rest,” Berger added for ServusTV.